Have you been thinking of the same thing over and over again? Feeling restless lately? Have trouble falling asleep or maintaining sleep? Do you wake up with pain in your jaws? Do you have fears taking over your mind? How about trying your best to lose weight with no real results?
Do you think these are signs of worry? Stress? Or anxiety?
Worry, stress, and anxiety are three terms that are often used interchangeably, yet they are very different. It is important to differentiate between them because if we understand how our mind operates and how our body reacts, we will be able to better solve the problem. Self-awareness is the first step to resolving our issues.
Worry
Worry is thinking about a problem that may potentially happen in the future.
For example:
I worry about getting sick.
I worry about not having enough money
I worry about not passing my classes
Worry is the driving force behind finding solutions to problems.
If I worry about getting sick, I will find ways to remain healthy
If I worry about not passing my exams, I will make sure I study properly
If I worry about not having enough money, I will do my best to keep my job…
Without worry, we would be careless and we wouldn’t try to think of solutions to potential problems.
So when does worry become a problem?
It becomes a problem when we start thinking of the same thing over and over again in a repetitive cycle. That’s when worry defeats its purpose and may lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression
Stress
Stress is the physiological response to a difficult situation.
Often times we look back at these difficult situations and wonder how were we able to survive them??
For example, someone has to run while being severely injured or jump off a cliff and then run to escape a fire or swim for a long distance while having to carry a child or two
How were these ppl able to perform such difficult tasks while experiencing physical pain?
Pain can also be emotional – like in the case of divorce, loss of a loved one, or loss of a job.
All these are very difficult situations that we would not have been able to manage if it wasn’t for the stress response
The stress response is controlled by stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol
Adrenaline increased HR and increases circulation to the muscles to help us run faster to escape danger
Cortisol will increase blood sugar to keep the brain alert and awake
So the stress response is extremely helpful bc that’s what allows us to manage the initial stage of shock
However, a sustained level of elevated stress response will subject us to many health problems
Adrenaline will increase Hr and bp which will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease
Cortisol suppresses Immune response and raises blood sugar which increases susceptibility to infections, cancer, diabetes, insomnia.. etc
These are only examples but many health problems may occur as a result of a sustained level of elevated stress hormones
Anxiety
Anxiety is the ear of the worst-case scenario
These fears are usually not logical and unrealistic
I think of anxiety as the “what if fear”:
- People, who have test-taking anxiety, will think “what If every time I take a test, I fail?”
- People, who have public speaking anxiety will think what if I say the wrong thing and I get humiliated in public?
- People, who have somatic symptom disorder will think “ what if doctors are misdiagnosing me?” “ what if I have a disease that will kill me?” One time I had a patient ask me “ what if I have a silent disease that has not been discovered yet?” They were worried about a disease that hasn’t been discovered in the world while they aren’t experiencing any symptoms at all! So you can see it’s pretty irrational
Unlike worry and stress, anxiety doesn’t serve a purpose and is always disruptive to a person’s life And they must seek treatment for it.
In this video, we discussed the differences between worry, stress, and anxiety.. we will discuss how to manage them.
